Episode 110: Paul Oyler

Introducing Paul Oyler

Paul is a self-proclaimed crazy, old dude, who wishes it were still the 1970s, but who also loves 21st-century technology.

Show Notes

Business | Facebook Page

Twitter | @PappyOyler

Blog | Paul Oyler Online

Preferred Pronouns | He/Him

Episode Transcript

Tara: This is Hallway Chats, where we meet people who use WordPress.

Liam: We ask questions, and our guests share their stories, ideas, and perspectives.

Tara: And now the conversation begins. This is episode 110.

Tara: Welcome to Hallway Chats. I’m Tara Claeys.

Liam: And I’m Liam Dempsey. Today, we’re joined by Paul Oyler. Paul is a self-proclaimed crazy, old dude, who wishes it were still the 1970s, but who also loves 21st-century technology. Paul is a follower of Jesus, a husband, a dad, a Pappy, a WordPress user, a Deadhead music lover and a fan of the Buffalo Sabres and the Bills. Welcome, Paul.

Paul: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Tara: Thanks for being here today, Paul. I’m really happy that you’ve joined us. I love that intro. There’s so much packed in there that’s not even WordPress related that I want to ask about. I’ll start by saying that one of my favorite playlists to listen to on any streaming is 1970s music. So among my favorite brings me back to being a kid and listening to Chicago and all these bands that you don’t hear on the regular radio very often. So I love 70s as well. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?

Paul: Well, I currently live in Butler, Pennsylvania, which is north of Pittsburgh. I’m right in the middle of Steeler country, so I’m a Bills fan in Steeler country. I like the Steelers too. I was born in Buffalo, so that’s how I got to be the Sabres and Bills fan.

I consider Roanoke, Virginia home because that’s where my dad was from, and that’s where I did most of my growing up. I lived there till I was about 25. Then I moved to Georgia, went to college at 25, and I met my first wife there who was from Western Pennsylvania. That’s how I’ve been ever since. I’ve been in western Pennsylvania since 88, now I think it is.

Tara: That explains your somewhat Southern accent. I’ve always wondered that. When I’ve heard you speaking, you don’t really have like a Pittsburgh-ish accent. You’ve maintained your Southern accent there.

Paul: Yeah. People tell me. I still like to say y’all. I just haven’t got the yen. Exactly, right.

Tara: Tell us a little bit about your WordPress background, how you got started with it and what you do with WordPress.

Paul: I started using WordPress right after it first came out. I mean it was I think the second version after they had forked from CafePress. Before that, I had been doing websites for some local racetrack drivers. I started out using front page, then I switched over to Dreamweaver. And then I was looking for something that was just a little less complicated, and so I started using some of the Nuke software, like PHP-Nuke and PostNuke and several others. I didn’t like them. I just didn’t like the way it was going.

Somebody said, “Check out this new thing that’s just come out called WordPress.” And so I started using it. I figured out, even before there were themes, how to kind of make it look somewhat like I wanted to. In fact, I probably was better designing with the old version before I knew what I was doing then with the current versions. I’ve been using WordPress ever since. That’s pretty much how I got into WordPress. I’m not really a designer, I’m not a developer,